Collapsible tube



July 26, 1938. H. F. TEMPLE COLLAPSIBLE TUBE Filed Oct. 8, 1937 ATTORNEY.

Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

2,125,250 oouhrsnam TUBE Application October 8, 1937, Serial No. 167,895

2 Claims.

thereby necessitating the use of tools or annoying manipulation to make a proper discharge opening in the tube. 15 My invention therefore contemplates the provision of a sealing member for the tube, which member while sufficiently strong to withstand the pressure of filling the tube and the stresses inherent in shipment and handling, is made so 20 thin, that it may be readily ruptured by pressure thereon exerted by the finger or nail of the user.

My invention further contemplates the provision of an extremely thin sealing member bridging a space intended to become the discharge 25 opening of the tube and readily breakable deliberatelybut strong enough to prevent accidental breakage thereof.

The various objects of my invention will be clear from the description which follows and from 30 the drawing, in which,

' Fig. 1 is a front elevation and partial vertical section of one form'of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1' of a somewhat modified form of the invention.

In the practical embodiment of my invention which I have shown by way oi; example, the body portion I is made of the usual cylindrical form and of thin collapsible material such'as tin, alu- 40 minum or the like. Projecting integrally from the upper end of said body portion I0 is the frusto -conical portion ll terminating at the line indicated by the numeral l2. A projection or neck l3 of hemi-spherical form as shown in Figs.

5 l and 2, projects from the upper end of the frusto-conical portion'l l and as shown, is provided with a rectanguar or ribbon? recess. ll,

' said recess extending outwardly from the inner surface of the portion l3 to such an extent as to 50 form 'a sealing member ii of approximately half or less the thickness of the wall of said portions l0, II and I3.

Because of its extreme thinness, said sealing V 'member while hardly noticeable from the exte- The breakable seals of such tubes, however, frequently do not break as intended,-

ly large.

tured by concentrated though slight pressure thereupon. For example, the user may merely run his finger across the top portion of the member l3, putting slight pressure thereupon, which pressure exerts a sufllcient unit stress upon the 5 member I5 to cause said member to rupture. Or, the user may run his finger nail across said sealing member to rupture it and to depress it sufficiently to expose a resulting ribbon opening.

In that form of the invention shown in Fig. 3, the form of the member I3 is slightly changed, there being provided a cylindrical neck portion l6 terminating in a partly spherical portion I1. The recess I 4 and the sealing member. I 5, however, may remain substantially the same as illusl5 trated in Figs. 1 and 2.

I have found that the sealing members hereinabove described may be extremely thin,-that is, on the order of about 0.003 of an inch in thickness but are, nevertheless, sufliciently strong to withstand ordinary handling and to withstand the pressure of filling the tube, since while the total stress on the interior surface of the tube and on the sealing member may be large, the unit stress thereon is small and insuflicient to cause rupture. Such rupture, nevertheless, may be easily effected by downward pressure on the sealing member since the unit stress thereon .is then comparative- I It will be seen that I have provided a one-piece thin collapsible tube with a sealing member which can readily be broken with case when necessary to expose an adequate discharge opening and that I have provided a structure designed to meet the requirements of practical use.

While I---have' shown and described certain specific embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself therer to, but intend to claim the invention as broadly as may be permitted by the state of the prior art 40 and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A one piece collapsible tube of the type having an hermetically sealed discharge end which is adapted to be ruptured comprising a body portion substantially cylindrical in configuration and an end portion, said end portion being formed integral with said body portion and comprising a frusto-conical part and a teatlike protuberance associated therewith, the end of which is. of 5 gradually diminishing circular section, a relatively narrow slot-like elongated weakened portion formed in said protuberance end in a manner whereby the exterior surface of said protuberance is left substantially smooth and regu- 56.

having an hermetically sealed discharge endwhich is adapted to be ruptured comprising a body portion substantially cylindrical in configuration and an end portion, said end portion oeing formed integral with said body portion and comprisinga frusto -conical part and a teatlike protuberance associated therewith, the end 0! saidprotuberance being formed in the shape of the curved surface of a segment of a sphere, a relatively narrow slot-like elongated weakened portion formed in said protuberance end in a manner whereby its external surface is substantially smooth and unbroken, said weakened portion being of a width andthickness adapted to be pierced by the thumb nail, whereby insertion of the thumb nailthrough the weakened portion effects a gradual shearing of the 'weakened por- 10 tion.

HAROLD F. TEMPLE. 

